Caffeine and High Blood Pressure - Is Your Coffee Hurting You?

Caffeine and high blood pressure - what's the connection? You're probably wondering this if your doctor has just told you that you have high blood pressure.

If your doctor has recently told you have high blood pressure, you're most likely trying very hard to lower it a few points to get it back to normal. You definitely don't need to drink or eat anything that raises it more.

Hear what doctors have to say regarding caffeine and high blood pressure.

Dr. Sheldon G. Sheps at Mayo Clinic, says that drinking two or three cups of coffer can possibly raise your systolic and diastolic blood pressure rates by as much or by as little as 14 to 3 mm Hg. The top number is your systolic blood pressure number and the diastolic reading is the bottom number.

The effect of caffeine from 2 to 3 cups of coffee on your blood pressure doesn't last long and doctors aren’t what causes it but they have several different theories. One of these theories is that caffeine releases more adrenaline into your blood stream. This causes your heartbeat to speed up. Other doctors feel it blocks a hormone and causes the narrowing of your blood vessels thereby raising your blood pressure.

For those who drink caffeine regulary, it doesn't usually cause a rise in their blood pressure. But for others, the caffeine raises their blood pressure.

It's easy to check how caffeine affects your blood pressure. First, drink your usual coffee or soft drink.

Next, within 30 minutes, take your blood pressure.

If you see that blood pressure reading is five points higher than normal, you are most likely sensitive to caffeine. If this is the case, it's best that you don't drink coffee or soft drinks or you should at least drink less.

If your doctor has diagnosed you with high blood pressure, in the best interest of your health, you should lower the amount of caffeinated beverages you drink. It would be even better if you quit drinking caffeine completely.

If you have trouble doing this or don’t want to, try drinking soft drinks and coffee gradually. Bit by bit, lower the amount until you're drinking until you're drinking less than than 200 mg for each day. Two hundred milligrams is the amount 2 cups of coffee have. 

The amount of caffeine in soft drinks is different for each soda, so you need to make sure how much caffeine is in your preferred drink. Here are the amounts of the more well-liked soft drinks:

Coca-Cola - 34.0

Diet Coke - 45.6 mg

Dr. Pepper - 41.0

Pepsi - 37.5

Diet Pepsi - 36.0

Mountain Dew - 55 mg

Diet Mountain Dew - 55 mg

If you’ve been recognized as having high blood pressure, please realize it is a life-threatening condition. Responsible for heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, and kidney failure, high blood pressure is a condition you need to take seriously.

Abide by your doctor's instructions and care plan. Also, speak to your doctor about caffeine and high blood pressure to get his opinion. Try your hardest to get your blood pressure lower and learn all you can about high blood pressure.